10-6-15 Audio Interview Part 2

In part two of my interview Mike Lang talks about how he evaluated his choices as a musician, how he discovered that there was a career for recording musicians, how he found his way into it and became one of its most successful players. Playing Jazz with Paul Horn, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Milt Jackson, Lee Konitz and Arturo Sandoval, Rock and Roll for Phil Spector and Marvin Gaye, more than 2000 film scores for Lalo Schifrin, Henry Mancini, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, James Newton Howard, Elmer Bernstein, Hans Zimmer and accompaniment for Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Diana Krall, John Lennon and Frank Zappa, to name a few. Listen to this self-deprecating man talk about his remarkable career saying “when people say I’m a legend, I say I’m a myth.” There is nothing mythical about Mike Lang, he is the real thing. At the end of this interview listen to him play an original piece on his own piano in his own living room, a rare opportunity.

9-29-15 Audio Interview Part 1

Pianist Mike Lang is a professional recording musician who has played with virtually everyone in virtually every genre of music. In this first part of my interview listen to the way his life in music began. Mike’s parents say that he asked to take piano lessons when he was four and a half. Serendipitously his early teachers taught him about a wide variety of music. His first teacher’s favorite pianists were Jose Iturbi and Liberace, so she had him playing written (classical) pieces and also popular music, and she taught him to play chords and begin to improvise. Mike says it was “a magical way to start because it set the tone for me being able to be about more than one thing in music.” Then he studied with the brilliantly eclectic George Tremblay who not only introduced him to a wide variety of musical styles but subjects as diverse as Shakespeare. Mike calls these “auspicious experiences” because they prepared him for a career which would include playing incredibly diverse music. Listen to this charming, thoughtful man talk about his philosophy of being in the present and the impact that philosophy has on his playing, also hear cuts from his only solo album, Days of Wine and Roses – the classic songs of Henry Mancini.

6-24-14 – Audio Interview Part 2

In part two of my interview Mike talks about how he evaluated his choices as a musician, how he discovered that there was a career for recording musicians, how he found his way into it and became one of its most successful players. Playing Jazz with Paul Horn, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Milt Jackson, Lee Konitz and Arturo Sandoval, Rock and Roll for Phil Spector and Marvin Gaye, more than 2000 film scores for Lalo Schifrin, Henry Mancini, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, James Newton Howard, Elmer Bernstein, Hans Zimmer and accompaniment for Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Diana Krall, John Lennon and Frank Zappa, to name a few. Listen to this self-deprecating man he talk about his remarkable career saying “when people say I’m a legend, I say I’m a myth.” There is nothing mythical about Mike Lang, he is the real thing. At the end of this interview listen to him play an original piece on his own piano in his own living room, a rare opportunity to hear this extraordinary musician at work.

6-17-14 Audio Interview Part 1

Pianist Mike Lang is a professional recording musician who has played with virtually everyone in virtually every genre of music. In this first part of my interview listen to the way his life in music began. Mike’s parents say that he asked to take piano lessons when he was four and a half. Serendipitously his early teachers taught him about a wide variety of music. His first teacher’s favorite pianists were Jose Iturbi and Liberace, so she had him playing written (classical) pieces and also popular music, and she taught him to play chords and begin to improvise. Mike says it was “a magical way to start because it set the tone for me being able to be about more than one thing in music.” Then he studied with the brilliantly eclectic George Tremblay who not only introduced him to a wide variety of musical styles but subjects as diverse as Shakespeare. Mike calls these “auspicious experiences” because they prepared him for a career which would include playing incredibly diverse music. Listen to this charming, thoughtful man talk about his philosophy of being in the present and the impact that philosophy has on his playing, also hear cuts from his only solo album, Days of Wine and Roses – the classic songs of Henry Mancini.